The railroad network transferred from the Ottoman Empire to the Republic administration was around 4,000 km. The construction of the railroad network between 1923-1938 was given a special importance and a total of 3,000 km of new railroads were constructed.
Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia were connected to Ankara and the port cities with railways. The responsibility for constructing and operating railroads was given to the Ministry of Transportation as of 1929 and it was assumed in 1953 by the organization called the "Republic of Turkey State Railroads (TCDD) Enterprise".
The TCDD, which gives service through seven operational regions presently, operates also the seven big ports of Turkey with 50 million tons of loading/unloading capacity including Istanbul (Haydarpasa), Izmir and Mersin ports in the first place. In Turkey, over 1000 settlement units are interconnected by 10.500 km's of railroad network.
Electrified management is carried out in approximately 20 percent of the present lines. The share of railroads in the transportation sector approached 10 percent as of 1998. TCDD lines are located on the shortest international corridor between Asia and Europe. Pan-European transport corridor no. IV meets TCDD lines.
On the other hand, the restructuring studies carried out within the context of the counsel directive No. 91/440 of European Union has reached a stage of being concluded. The main goal of restructuring is to achieve, at every stage, the private sector's participation and its mentality of management.